U.S. department releases draft report on wind energy impacts
WASHINGTON, DC, US, 2004-09-22 (Refocus Weekly)
A U.S. federal department has proposed a program that will “result in the greatest amount of wind energy development over the next 20 years, at the lowest potential cost to industry.”
The Department of the Interior has released its ‘Draft Programmatic
Environmental Impact Statement’ on wind energy development on lands
administered in the western U.S. by the department’s Bureau of Land
Management. The DPEIS was prepared to assess the environmental, social and
economic impacts associated with wind energy development on public lands in
eleven western states and to evaluate a number of alternatives to determine the
best management approach to mitigating potential impacts and facilitating wind
energy development.
The document will be open to public review for 90 days, and reflects the 800
comments received during a series of public scoping meetings last year. The
scope covers BLM-administered lands in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho,
Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming, but excluding
Alaska.
“The proposed action would provide the most comprehensive approach for
ensuring that potential adverse impacts are minimized to the greatest extent
possible” and is “likely to provide the greatest economic benefits to local
communities and the region as a whole,” the document explains. “As a result,
the proposed action appears to best meet the objectives of the National Energy
Policy recommendations to increase renewable energy production on federal
lands.”
The Department of the Interior is responsible for development of wind energy
resources on BLM-administered lands, which currently totals 500 MW of capacity.
The interim policy was developed in response to the National Energy Policy
recommendations that the Departments of the Interior, Energy, Agriculture and
Defense “work together to increase renewable energy production” and support
wind energy development on public lands while minimizing potential environmental
and sociocultural impacts.
The analysis assesses the “positive and negative environmental, social and
economic impacts” and discussed mitigation measures to address these impacts.
A maximum potential development scenario was used to define the potential
magnitude of future wind energy development activities within the states, and
additional modelling was conducted to consider the impact of various economic
factors affecting wind energy development and to define how much wind power
might be generated over the next 20 years in the eleven-state study area.
The draft includes three alternatives: to implement a comprehensive Wind Energy
Development Program with policies that would apply to all windfarms; to continue
administering wind energy development grants under the interim policy with
amendments on a plan-by-plan basis; and limiting wind energy development to
areas where it currently exists or is under review or approved for development.
Under the last scenario, future expansion of wind energy development would not
be allowed except in Palm Springs, California; Ridgecrest, California and
Arlington, Wyoming, as well as locations where windfarms are being reviewed:
Table Mountain in Nevada, Cotterel Mountain in Idaho and Walker Ridge in
California.
“Potential adverse impacts to natural and cultural resources could occur
during each phase of wind energy development if effective mitigation measures
are not implemented,” it warns. “The nature and magnitude of these impacts
would vary by phase and would be determined by the project location and size.”
Potential impacts would include use of geologic and water resources, creation or
increase of geologic hazards or soil erosion, water quality degradation,
localized generation of airborne dust, generation of noise, alteration or
degradation of wildlife habitat or sensitive or unique habitat, interference
with resident or migratory fish or wildlife species including protected species,
alteration or degradation of plant communities including the occurrence of
invasive vegetation, land use changes, alteration of visual resources, release
of hazardous materials or wastes, increased traffic, increased human health and
safety hazards, and destruction or loss of paleontological or cultural
resources.
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